Theme 4: Why is comprehension strategy instruction important?

In the last theme, we explored the reasons why comprehension instruction in the content area is different. To sum it up it just means that there are a vast array of strategies students can use and it is up to the students to know which strategies will help them best in the particular content area. Likewise, theme 4 (Why is comprehension strategy instruction important) has similar key points.

As there are so many strategies students can choose from, it is vital that students understand how to effectively use that strategy. As Sunday Cummins says in Ch. 7 Determing Importance in a Text from  Close Reading of Informational Texts, "even when our students actively self-monitor while reading, they still struggle to identify key details that support the author's central ideas." I think the concept of 'main ideas' and 'summarizing' is a skill that even adults have trouble with. With our digital age and access to millions of information' it has become more difficult for students to decipher which information to retain and which to discard.

In Ch. 8 The Heart of the Matter by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman, they give us four reasons why readers make decisions about what is important: purpose, questions towards reading, questions while reading, and the need to find specific information. Now this can be zoned into more detail by three levels in which readers make decisions of importance provided by Keene and Zimmerman: whole text/idea level, sentence level, and word level.

Comprehension strategy instruction is critical because it provides an example for students in thinking aloud, monitoring comprehension, and asking rhetorical questions in an authentic manner. In Ch. 6 Creating Meaning by Keene and Zimmerman thinking aloud is considered important because it "provides direct access to reader's mind, allow children to observe what is understanding." Holistically, the purpose of a thinking aloud is to "show process of proficient reader making sense of text" (Keene & Zimmerman). When I was reading about think alouds I realized I had a skewed perception on it; I had thought of a think aloud to be a read aloud and a read about should mainly be more pleasure reading for the students. However, a think aloud can be both instructional and enjoyable! It is a great time for teachers to show and example a strategy such as, questions, inference get, synthesizing, etc.

To sum up all these key points and ideas, I think the reason why comprehension strategy instruction is important is because there are so many strategies and information available for our students and it is our job to make students feel comfortable with each strategy. To an ordinary eye, it may seems students understand the strategy through definition, but can the students really implement it and use it on their own? If we do not example and show the strategy through think alouds, students will not understand the strategy to the fullest.